I wonder there’s any interest in a recumbent gathering for those of us living in Sydney? I think we have a few Sydney based recumbent riders in the group and could put the word out for any others to join in. BNA had a gathering at Sydney Olympic Park a few years ago which was a nice get together. Interesting to put faces to names as well. Any suggestions on when, and where we might do such a thing?

I would certainly be interested. I expect that one of my colleagues from work would also come, he has an impressive homebuilt carbon frame 20/26 SWB bike with tail fairing.

As for where, well Olympic Park probably isn't a bad meeting place. It's fairly close to the geographical centre of Sydney and has good transport links so most recumbent riders in Sydney should be able to get there without too much difficulty. I have occasionally spotted other recumbents in the area too, in various places between Rhodes and Epping. I'll admit to some self interest here though as Olympic Park is practically on my doorstep these days The best thing to do might be to see who's interested and where they're based first and them pick somewhere nearby for the majority of riders.

I would go with a Sunday morning meetup as that's probably the time most people would be able to make. A Saturday morning might be almost as good, though some people may have commitments with children's sport, etc. 2 or 3 weeks from now should allow enough time to get the word out.

It would probably be worth contacting someone from OzHPV about this, though the Sydney chapter appears to be defunct: http://www.ozhpv.org.au/stategroups/nsw/nsw.html. If nothing else their mailing list may reach a few Sydney recumbent riders who aren't on BNA. Maybe a post on the BROL forums too? I don't tend to go there much myself anymore though, I find the 'signal to noise ratio' rather low on that forum...

I took my Cruzbike to the meeting in those photos (my helmet and left shoulder are visible in the first pic). A good turnout (including some up from Canberra), lots of interesting bikes and trikes, but it was years ago. Definitely time for another gathering.

It only needs someone to be an organiser.If the group wants to do stuff, I'd suggest that membership of OzHPV be encouraged and the OzHPV Public Liability insurance cover would protect the member organiser at least.There are many OzHPV members in the Sydney area.

OK, it seems we have quite a bit of interest. Excellent. I posted a message on the Ozvpv forum as well, and a bunch from Canberra are thinking of making the trek to Sydney. Even better. At this stage I’m thinking about the last weekend in May or the first one in June. Personally I don't have a strong preference, but saturday would suit me slightly better. I’ve put in a request for fine weather for both days on both weekends.

Next question is, what kind of event would we like? The BNA gathering was in the form of a rally, where everyone made their own way to the meeting point where we had a leisurely breakfast at 9 am, followed by a short cruise around the park. People organised themselves into groups and rode whatever distance suited them to get to the Park. Some did just a few km, others more than 100. Advantage of this is that it caters for all abilities. The other option is to meet earlier and ride together to somewhere. One suggestion was the Cook’s River cycleway to Brighton Le Sands for breakfast. A nice flat, easy ride, although the 60km distance may put some people off.

I am very good with any weekend, but Sunday is guaranteed (Saturdays not so?) and suspect I can round up 5 or 6 Benters. It is my opinion, most of us are over Olympic Park and some of the other suggested. I have 2 suggestions A/ Cammeray (Piazza court yard) - the Spit - Shelley Beach for coffee and return. 2/ Hunters Hill (corner Matthew Street Short Street) / Woolwich / Clark's point for coffee return. Either ride is not particularly long but mostly on quiet paths / roads, very scenic and greatly enjoyed when I take many others (who are also over the norm).Neither ride is beneficial to my location, Just find them to be great rides.Due to the cold and some coming from afar a 9am start, would be good.

Either last weekend in May or first in June seems OK for me, I'd almost certainly be free either Sunday, and probably either Saturday (though there is more chance of me being otherwise engaged on the Saturdays).

Personally I would prefer an organised ride rather than a rally, partially because the meet up locations proposed so far are all rather close to where I live but largely because I think it would be best if all the attendees got to ride together.

an "out 'n back" run to Windsor... meet Olympic Park for brekky....(insert cafe of choice here)...... out to Windsor for ' 2nd brekky ' ...laze by the Hawkesbury..photos etc., Enjoying the good weather you've already organised

Trek back to Parra..... ???

Am happy with the Cooks River option too .... & then maybe try out the Bourke St. path to the City??.. then Anzac Br., Lillyfield, etc., back to OP??

Thanks for your responses to all. Seems that the date (around end of May) works for most people, with a preference for Sunday morning. Most people are suggesting a group ride, rather than a rally. With that in mind, here are the rendez-vous locations that have been suggested so far, and my views on them. I’ve ridden in most of these areas, but happy to be corrected if my observations aren’t accurate.

Sydney Olympic ParkCentral location. Good public transport via rail. Plenty of parking. Many of the suggested rides start from or pass through it.Used by many, so some are suggesting trying somewhere new.

CammerayGood access to the spectacular northern beaches. Public transport may be difficult. Not sure about local parking.

Hunter’s HillNot so easy access to public transport. Parking should be OK.

ChatswoodPretty central for those on the northside. Good starting point for rides to the northern beaches, and also south over the bridge. Good rail access. It’s a busy area, but parking should be OK on Sunday morning.

HornsbyHave to put a plug in for this, as it’s my local area. It’s a good starting point for many scenic rides through Galston and points west, Berowra and points north, and Bobbin Head and points east. Most rides have reasonable hills.Good rail access. Plenty of parking on Sunday mornings. It is a bit of a trek from southern Sydney, though.

As far as distance is concerned, this obviously depends on the route, but suggest no more than around two hours riding time. Probably somewhere between 40 and 60km. With the obligatory coffee stops and chatting time, this will see us back around midday.

Here are a couple of my suggestions;

From HornsbyOld highway to Pie in the Sky café. Pretty easy 40km. Nice views. Easily completed in two hours.For something more challenging, Galston gorge, Arcadia, Berowra ferry, back to Hornsby. 50km with a couple of decent climbs. Nice views and quiet countryside.

From SOPCook’s River path to Brighton Le Sands. 60km no hills. Haven’t done this and I’m quite interested to give it a go. Along the river to Parramatta park. About 40km I think. Haven’t done this either but it sounds quite nice.

This is looking good David. A few comments on the suggested rides that I'm familiar with:

rdp_au wrote:As far as distance is concerned, this obviously depends on the route, but suggest no more than around two hours riding time. Probably somewhere between 40 and 60km. With the obligatory coffee stops and chatting time, this will see us back around midday.

That all sounds sensible to me.

From HornsbyOld highway to Pie in the Sky café. Pretty easy 40km. Nice views. Easily completed in two hours.

While I am inclined to try something new I do really like this ride. For those that aren't familiar with it an advantage with this route is that there is a convenient extension option for any riders that are feeling energetic. They can push on ahead, go past Pie in the Sky, do the descent down to the Brooklyn turn off and then climb back up to the cafe, where everyone can regroup for a leisurely coffee stop before riding together back to Hornsby. The extension adds about 8 km and roughly 200 m of steady climbing at a 5% grade. There's a profile, etc., of the extended version here, the non-extended version David described simply omits the big descent and climb in the middle. Having the option of either riding directly to the cafe or adding the descent and climb may help the ride appeal to as many local recumbent cyclists as possible.

For something more challenging, Galston gorge, Arcadia, Berowra ferry, back to Hornsby. 50km with a couple of decent climbs. Nice views and quiet countryside.

Another great ride though I would be a little concerned about the two climbs possibly putting some people off, you'd need to canvas opinion on that. The climb out of Galston on the Arcadia side is, in my opinion, one of the tougher ones in that area. In terms of elevation gain and average gradient it's much like the others but I've always found the frequent changes of gradient make it hard to get into a rhythm and the steep sections of up to 11% can be tough if you're on a heavy bike and/or are not used to it. There's a profile, etc., for this ride here and a cunning interactive PDF that enables you compare a number of the Northern Sydney climbs in more detail here.

From SOPCook’s River path to Brighton Le Sands. 60km no hills. Haven’t done this and I’m quite interested to give it a go.

I have done this, but not for a number of years. It is a nice ride, though as I recall the route is a bit 'fiddly'. The Cook's River cycleway has numerous road crossings with bollards, barriers, etc. as well as some very narrow underpasses and a footbridge or two with tight turns and more bollards on approach/exit. Nothing impassible for recumbents but a test of low speed handling skills nonetheless. I seem to remember the on road sections of the route requiring a lot of turns too, I think you'd want a rider or two already familiar with the route to make sure we didn't go astray.

OK it looks like we have consensus. Sydney Olympic Park, Sunday 3rd June. The ride will be to Brighton Le Sands. Do we have one, or preferably a number of people who are familiar with the route who will be able to lead?